Diablo 3 (PC) Review

First and foremost, with writing this review I am going to completely ignore the fact about all the server issues and errors with the release of Diablo 3. It is completely normal for some games to behave like this, but for a company as big and bad as Blizzard Entertainment you would have thought they would be prepared. Even after twelve long years…you are either going to love it or hate it.

It has been twenty long years since the destruction of the world stone, the ending of Diablo II and with the mysterious object that has fallen from the sky near New Tristram, known as a sign for the beginning of the end. Corruption or evil has already begun to rise, and New Tristram has already started to suffer the same fate as the Old Tristram did years back.

The Diablo trilogy is known to be one of the best hack & slash RPG games out there, and in many cases it is. So to speak for the first two games, with Diablo 3, Blizzard has gone in a whole new direction, except with the same click-and-kill gameplay mechanics. One thing I would consider before you go out and buy Diablo 3 is that it requires a constant Internet connection in order to play. Wait, what the heck? Why would Blizzard even require this? Well, two reasons: to protect the multiplayer and achievements from hackers and to give the game an extra DRM protection from piracy. In order to play or even get to the main menu, you are required to sign into your Battle.net account. Players from the past Diablo games might take this to heart. It is one of those things that you understand why they are doing it, but then again, you’re not sure about it.

It doesn’t take very long to notice the differences in Diablo 3 from its predecessors. First, the graphics are more up to par with the modern-day. I wasn’t so awed or excited about the graphics for the game. It seems as if they could have been better or released a high-res texture pack for the game. Secondly, the skill tree has been improved, or made a lot simpler you could say. In the past games, you could recall spending many hours messing around with your skill tree and deciding which ones to use. With Diablo 3, the stat points and skill unlocks have all gone automatic and you have access to all your core skills for whatever character you decided to play by level 30. Along with the skills, you get access to five additional bonuses with runes. It takes time to figure out what combination of skills and runes will best suit your character needs for the situation you may be in. For me, I tried out most of the different rune style skills and by the time I reached level 35 I had chosen my preferred combo.

One of the most important parts of any of the Diablo games has always been exploring the dungeons, fighting off hoards of enemies, and, after that, looting the hell out of it just to cash in the prize. The best thing about looting is that all of the best items you can find in the game are from it, even if you do not need all of those items. You can take it back to town and sell it, or salvage magical items to gather material to craft new ones. That is really one of the coolest things about it too; if you find a super awesome rare item that you just can’t bear to sell or salvage in-game, you can auction it off in the auction house Blizzard has implemented in the game.

The third most noticeable change is with the auction house, Blizzard has allowed the Diablo community to create their own economy. As of now you can only bid or buyout an item at the auction with in-game gold you have accrued during your travels. But soon, Blizzard plans to release a real currency system into the auction house where you can sell items for real money. This would be a huge risk that Blizzard is taking and who knows if this will affect to economy in Diablo. We will have to see.

I know earlier I mentioned that I would ignore all of the server issues, but this one I just have to mention. The launch of Diablo 3 seemed so unprepared in my mind, with the overload of their servers, not being able to connect to their servers, and even with the game, when connected, being laggy while playing the single player campaign. Something just wasn’t right about it. Blizzard knew about it too and apologized to their fans. It has now gotten a lot better with fewer bumps so that big hype is over.

Last but not least, Diablo 3 has given us another great cooperative/party system like it did in Diablo 2, but with only four people max. And it’s pretty easy too; you can get from your desktop to playing with your friends within several clicks. The new party system allows for quick access to friends’ games.

Bottom line: Diablo 3 is a great game. I really loved the story and the closure of how it ended. The voice acting and the animated cut scenes were spectacular. That is another thing: with the choice between five different character classes, male or female, you still have excellent feel with the game and its unique storyline of each class. What will you be, the barbarian with all of his might or will you decide to be a wizard? It’s all up to you and what kind of gameplay you desire. I would highly recommend getting your hands on a copy especially if you are looking for a great experience with one of the kings of the RPG.

Written by: Andrew Moreno

Andrew is a PC gamer to the core, always will be and always has. He enjoys playing Battlefield, Call of Duty, Skyrim and Black Hawk Down.
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